


Jason Brown-Weisenbachfeld and The Halloween Hullabaloo

by SheWantsItAll



Series: First Grade Jason [2]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: A Brief Glimpse Into Marvin's Tragic Backstory™, Bats, Bullying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Elementary School, F/M, Feelings, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Marvin Not Being an Asshole (Falsettos), Modern Era, kids are mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27327649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWantsItAll/pseuds/SheWantsItAll
Summary: Jason dresses up for Halloween costume day at school and things do not go according to plan.Modern era featuring first grade Jason, married Whizzvin. Now with Trina!
Relationships: Trina/Mendel Weisenbachfeld, Whizzer Brown/Marvin
Series: First Grade Jason [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995193
Comments: 18
Kudos: 42





	Jason Brown-Weisenbachfeld and The Halloween Hullabaloo

Jason had been waiting for Halloween for  _ weeks,  _ as it was his favorite holiday. His family unit would probably argue that  _ all _ holidays were Jason’s favorite, but this was October, and favorite  _ October holiday  _ was Halloween. 

Jason was sitting in his car seat in the back of Mom’s minivan wearing his own very special bat costume that she had  _ made _ him. It was a cozy brown sweatshirt with soft fleece bat wings sewn on and fuzzy bat ears attached to the hood. He had on matching brown pants and his usual light up shoes. 

Even though actual Halloween wasn’t until tomorrow, he was  _ ready  _ for Halloween costume day at school. He wondered what his classmates would dress up as. He wondered if Nelly had actually convinced her parents to let her dress up as zombie George Washington. They arrived at school, and he unbuckled himself as soon as they were in the drop off line. This was going to be a good day- it had to be. He was sure of it. When they stopped he leaned up and hugged Momma tight, telling her that he loved her and thanking her again for making his costume. Before she could respond, he had flung open the sliding back door and rushed out, nearly forgetting his backpack. 

He just knew that his costume would be the best- Momma had  _ made _ it for him, so of course it was extra special. It was also very on theme for his class. They had been learning about bats all week in their reading and science time, and had even done a special bat themed math worksheet. Jason thought that they were amazing  _ and _ cute. Mr. McKinley had decorated their classroom with bats as well. They were everywhere- dangling from the ceiling, hanging upside down on a garland across their board, and adorning comparison and KWL anchor charts at the back of the room. 

Jason scurried into the school building, holding his arms out to the sides slightly so that his wings flapped in the slight breeze, a huge smile on his face. He got to his classroom and started his classroom morning routine, checking the board for special instructions, putting his backpack away, moving his lunch count magnet, and walking across the hall to go to the restroom. 

He was washing his hands when all of a sudden, three kids wearing masks came into the restroom. Jason loved Halloween, but he _ hated  _ Halloween masks- something about not being able to see peoples’ faces time with people when he could see their faces- masks took that option away, and they were scary, of course. They saw him, and immediately started giggling, talking to each other about how stupid his costume was and saying how stupid he looked. 

Jason felt his face heat up. He had thought he looked cool. Properly cool. His mom had  _ made _ it  _ and _ it was a  _ bat _ \- how could it not be cool? He washed his hands more quickly, hoping to get out of there as soon as he could. 

The three boys closed in on him quickly, backing him up close to the wall. They surrounded him and there wasn’t anywhere for him to run. He didn’t like this. He couldn’t see their faces at all, but they were wearing really scary masks. The one who was standing on his left was wearing a werewolf mask with big teeth and blood, the one on his right had a skull mask with empty black eyes, and the third one, who stood directly in front of him was wearing a clown mask. Jason was the smallest kid in his class, and these boys seemed to tower over him. Not like grown ups did, but still enough to make him nervous. Jason shut his eyes tightly. He hated clowns. 

“Awe, is little baby Jason scared?” clown mask kid taunted. 

Jason pressed himself closer to the wall. He knew that voice. It was David Applebaum, one of his table mates, of course it was. He had been picking on Jason ever since the day Marvin came and picked him up early- calling him a baby and making mean faces at him. Jason hadn’t told anyone. David always did mean things to him when no one else was around and Jason didn’t want to tattle and make things worse. 

“Please stop..” he squeaked. It didn’t come out as severely as he had hoped it would. His eyes were still shut tight. He couldn't make himself open them. 

“Why, am I scaring you?” David sneered.

Jason shook his head no quickly, but still did not open his eyes. 

“Well if you aren’t scared, then why don’t you open your eyes?” David asked, leaning in close and putting his masked face right in front of the shorter boy, close enough that his red nose almost touched Jason’s.

Jason opened his eyes and saw the face in front of his. He shrieked. The rational part of his brain knew it wasn’t real, but seeing it so close and so suddenly made his heart pound. He sank down against the wall, arms over his head to protect himself from anything that might be coming. “Stop, stop, stop, stop” he chanted, voice trembling but slightly raised. 

“What do you boys think you’re doing?” he heard Mr. McKinley say sternly. He looked up and the boys in masks had turned around and over their heads he could see his teacher standing there, hands on his hips and looking very serious, despite being dressed up as a giant pink Crayola crayon. 

None of the masked boys said anything. Jason remained on the floor. 

“Well. First of all, there was a strict no mask rule from the beginning- it was on the note you took your grown ups, so I’m going to need you to take those off,” Mr. McKinley said. He wasn’t yelling or anything, but sounded so serious that all of the boys complied immediately.

Jason watched as the masks came off. The only boy he recognized was David- the other two must have been in another class. His heart was still racing- this is not how this day was supposed to go. 

“Alright. Now, you can head to the principal’s office- I will be there in five minutes with Mrs. Smith and we’ll all be having a chat.” 

The boys turned and left without giving Jason a second glance. He was fine with that. He looked up at Mr. McKinley from his place on the floor with wide eyes. Why were they so mean to him? He thought his costume was cool. He felt his bottom lip start to tremble. 

Before he knew it Mr. McKinley was in front of him, helping him up and handing him his backpack. He blinked rapidly, determined not to cry, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what they had said. A stray tear dripped down his face. They had called him a baby, and here he was proving them right. 

Mr. McKinley led him to the teacher’s lounge and they sat down on one of the faded couches. Jason sniffled a little bit and wiped his face on the sleeve of his bat costume. He pulled the hood up over his head, trying to hide as much of his face as he could.

"Jason.. kiddo I know you're upset, but I need you to tell me what happened," Mr. McKinley said quietly, all of the edge had vanished from his voice. 

"I'm  _ not _ upset," he mumbled, though his voice still shook. He explained everything, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. He told his teacher everything, not only about what had happened while he was in the bathroom, but also about dozens of other times David had picked on him or said something mean to him, always making sure to do it on the playground or in a different class so that he never got caught. 

Mr. McKinley looked at him sadly. "Why didn't you tell someone, Jason? We could have put a stop to this weeks ago.."

Jason shrugged. He didn't want to tattle and make things worse. He was just trying not to start crying again.

"Well. I'm going to go talk to them with the principal, and it's never going to happen again. And if it does, I need you to tell me buddy. I can't help if you don't let me know what's going on," he said, "are you ready to go back to the classroom? Miss Morgan is going to read you guys a story while I take care of David and call your grown ups." 

Jason shrugged. He really didn't want to go in there. He felt embarrassed about his costume, and he was mad at himself for being embarrassed about it. Momma had worked so hard on it. And it was  _ so _ cool. And he loved it, and he loved bats. But they had said he looked stupid. He shook his head a little. No. He didn't want to go back in. 

"Are you sure? The book Miss Morgan has is about bats.. is that what your costume is?"

He nodded. Stupid bat costume. 

"That is  _ so _ cool, Jason! I love bats. David won't be back in class today, so Nelly can sit in his desk next to you.. would that make you feel a little better?" 

Jason shrugged again. It probably would- she was his best friend, after all, but he would still have to go in. His tummy hurt. Part of him wanted to go home and change and give up on the whole day. 

"Is there anything that I can do that would make you feel better?"

Jason thought for a minute. He could ask to go home, but he knew he needed to stay. He didn't want to miss costume day completely, and he wanted to hear Miss Morgan’s book about bats. He didn't want Momma to know what they said about his costume. "Can.. can I have a hug?" he asked quietly, still avoiding eye contact. 

He listened for an answer that didn't come, but relaxed when he felt arms wrap around him. He sniffled into Mr. McKinley's pink crayon outfit and held on tight. Mr. Mckinley squeezed him gently, but let go sooner than Jason was really ready. He wished he was home even more. He took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready now…" he said quietly. It wasn't exactly true, but he knew he had to go back sooner rather than later if he didn't want to miss the story.

"Alright...and, Jason.. if something ever happens again, I want you to tell me. You could even write me a note, or have one of your grown ups tell me- but I need to know so I can help, alright?" Mr. McKinley stood and walked him back to the classroom. He was about to turn and leave when Jason grabbed the side of his costume.

“Mr. McKinley… can you just… when you call my Momma can you just not tell her that they made fun of my costume? She made it for me and she worked really hard and I don’t want her to feel bad.” the words rushed out of his mouth. Momma couldn’t find out. She just couldn’t. She would blame herself if she knew.

Mr. McKinley thought for a moment. Could he really contact Trina and not tell her? He could tell her that the boys had cornered her son. He could tell her that David had been picking on him for weeks. That seemed like enough. “Can do that. I won’t tell her,” he promised “now- go in and try to enjoy the story, huh? I’ll be back soon” he finished and headed for the office. 

~~~

The rest of the passed without any major issues. Jason was sad. He thought it would be easier if he was mad but he really couldn't bring himself to be angry, just deeply disappointed. 

Nelly really  _ had  _ convinced her parents to let her dress up as zombie George Washington. It was pretty convincing too, and there was no mask involved. When he told her what happened she had been, Jason thought, a little bit too angry. Nothing had happened to her, and he wasn’t angry at all, just overwhelmingly sad. 

True to his word, Mr. McKinley had taken care of the situation with David and the other two boys. All three families were notified, David had been sent home early as school policy dictated. Mr. McKinley had talked to each of Jason’s four main grown ups and was in the process of rearranging his seating chart to get David as far away from Jason, and as close to him for better monitoring, as he possibly could. He was still working on a plan for what to do if it continued- he had never handled this situation before. Every day was something new. 

Jason had never been so ready to go home. Mr. McKinley had hugged him at the start of the day, yes, but that wasn’t enough to really make him feel better. He needed more hugs. It was Friday, so the plan was for him to ride the school bus to Daddy and Papa’s apartment. He couldn’t even find it within himself to be excited. He always looked forward to his weekends there, but he felt so down that the usual spark of excitement just wasn’t there. 

The bus ride home felt longer than usual. He held his backpack in his lap and kept his arms wrapped around it, trying to keep his costume as hidden as he could. He didn’t want anyone else to see it and decide to make fun of him. He kept his hood pulled up, it made him feel more secure despite the fact that the fuzzy bat ears totally gave away his costume, and put his feet in the seat beside him to discourage anyone else from sitting there. There were lots of empty spots today, and usually no one else wanted to sit on the front seat. 

When they pulled up in front of the building, he thanked his bus driver quietly and shuffled inside. Marvin was waiting for him in the lobby, sitting on one of the couches and engrossed a worn paperback book- he didn’t look up when Jason walked in. He slunk over and tapped him on the arm, a pitiful look on his face that, while heart wrenching, didn't fully reflect how bad he actually felt. 

Marvin looked down at him and he smiled for a moment before fully taking in the look on Jason’s face. His heart broke a little bit. Mr. McKinley had called and told him what happened, but he hoped that Jason’s overall enthusiasm would help to counterbalance the situation, but apparently he was wrong to even hope so. He knew what Jason was dealing with- kids could be cruel, especially when you’re different. Things were going to be better for Jason than they had been for him though- he had four parents who loved him, who would all do absolutely anything they could to keep him happy and healthy and safe- Marvin hadn’t had that. 

“Come here, sweetheart,” he said gently, reaching out to pull Jason into his lap. He always wanted cuddles when he got there after the best of weeks, and he was always extra cuddly when he was upset. “your teacher called and told me what happened today… do you want to talk about it?”

Jason shook his head quietly, tucking his face into Daddy’s neck and basking in the safe, warm feeling he always got when Daddy held him. He felt safe, and he knew that no one would ever make fun of him or call him mean names or scare as long as he was right there.

He felt the arms around him tighten and he snuggled in impossibly closer. Daddy held him for a long time, rubbing his back and telling him about all of the fun, festive things that they could do over the weekend. Jason knew that he was trying to take his mind off of what had happened at school, and even though he knew, it was working. 

Jason lifted his head and looked at Daddy. He was feeling much better about everything- even though what David and the other two boys had said still hurt, he didn’t feel like the world was ending anymore. “Can we watch Spooky Buddies?” he asked, looking incredibly hopeful, he hesitated before continuing, “and… can Momma come?”

Marvin tried not to let the question sting, but it did anyway, just a bit. The four parents were close, and he and Trina got along better than they ever had when they were married. All of that being said, Marvin wasn’t entirely keen to share the too-short weekend he had with his child with the people who had him all week. The kid looked so hopeful, though, and he had already had such a difficult day, how awful would Marvin be if he denied him his mom? 

Marvin pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Of course, come on… let’s get upstairs. I’ll text your mom and we’ll set up for the movie,” he stood up, and made for the elevator, Jason skipping along beside him.

When they got in the elevator, Jason looked up at him, looking serious again. “You can’t tell Momma that they laughed at my costume. Mr. McKinley promised he wouldn’t and you can’t either… it isn’t her fault.”

“I promise I won’t tell her,” he smiled at how sweet Jason’s request was. He really did have the best kid in the world. He was so, so lucky. 

~~~

That night found the five of them curled up in the living room of the apartment, at various levels of drowsiness. One movie had turned into two, which turned into three. Jason had spent the time going from parent to parent, making sure to spend quality cuddle time with each of them. 

He was currently curled in Trina’s arms, fast asleep and still wearing his bat costume. Marvin pushed away the twinge of jealousy he felt. “He loves that costume,” he said quietly, trying not to disturb Whizzer, who was slumped against his shoulder. “You guys can stay if you want, the guest room is all yours.”

Trina smiled, even though it was the norm now, it always sort of surprised her when Marvin was so kind to her. They had grown so much over the years. “I know that you didn’t plan to have us here, but… thanks. I was so worried when his teacher called. We’re going to head home though, I don’t want to crowd your time with him” she said, rubbing Jason’s back gently to rouse him. 

“Night night baby boy, I love you” she said quietly, and kissed his head. 

Jason blinked slowly, so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open. “Love you too, Momma,” he mumbled, willingly letting himself be handed off to Daddy. He felt so much better now than he had when he left school. At that moment, it didn’t matter at all what other kids said or did. He had his family. He loved them, and they loved him, and that was all that really mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> First grade Jason returns! I am a mere reading assistant, but the first grade class I spend part of my day with learned about bats all week last week. Do yourself a favor and look up bumblebee bats- they’re adorable.
> 
> I really wanted to get this up in time for Halloween but didn’t have as much time to work on it as I would like to have spent (so I hope it isn’t actual trash), and then fell asleep at 11:40 pm before I could post... oops. Happy day after Halloween everyone! 
> 
> If you’re 18 or older and live in the US, please, please, please vote!!!! This is the one thing where everyone has equal power with the most powerful people in the country. Use it! 
> 
> One last thing- this is officially a series. I have a few more things written down and plotted out, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! I can't promise I'll get to them quickly, but I would love your prompts! 
> 
> Have fun, stay safe, and wash your hands!💖💖💖


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